Beat the freeze……. How to prevent pipes from freezing, defrosting frozen pipes and what to do if a pipe bursts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beat the freeze…….

How to prevent pipes from freezing, defrosting frozen pipes and what to do if a pipe bursts.

A burst water pipe in your home can be devastating, when a pipe breaks it can often result in complete or partial flooding of the property damaging carpets, furnishings, plaster, decorations and personal belongings.  It is important to protect your water services both waste drainage and service water to defend against the risk of pipes freezing and bursting during the cold winter months.

The following steps describes; why pipes freeze, how to prevent pipes from freezing, defrosting frozen pipes and what you should do if a pipe bursts.

 Why do pipes freeze and burst?

During cold weather, the pipes in your home may freeze for a number of reasons. If your pipes are unprotected or poorly protected with limited insulation, cold can reach the pipes causing them to freeze, this can happen to pipes routed both externally and internally where  warm air from inside your home may not always reach the pipes particularly within your roof or walls protecting them from the cold. Pipes exposed to icy draughts, usually from cracks or gaps at the point where the pipe enters your home are also susceptible.

When pipes are exposed to the cold water within the pipes freezes and expands, the expansion of water inside the pipe causes pressure to build up and repeated pressure may eventually cause the pipe to burst.

Water damage does not always just occur due to service water pipes, it may also occur if waste water pipes form your sink or washing machine block and freeze causing water to back up into your home.

How to prevent pipes from freezing?

To ensure that water flows freely through your pipes in winter and doesn’t freeze, follow our recommendations below;

1) Insulate your loft, walls and the sides of your water tanks (if you have any). To prevent your pipes bursting, wrap them in lagging (a foam based insulation) and ensure the lagging is tight and secure.

2) Check your thermostat. Most modern condensing boilers are protected from freezing by a thermostat which forces the boiler to operate automatically if the temperature drops below a certain level (usually this is set to 15/16 degrees centigrade in most occupied houses). Check your thermostat is set and operational, before winter comes.

3) Block any unnecessary holes within the walls or roof to keep the cold out, particularly holes around where pipes enter the walls.

4) In very cold weather, you’ll need to leave your heating on a low setting (or set it to come on a couple of times a day), especially if you’re going on holiday for longer than a day or two.

5) Find your stop tap! Your stop tap is your mains water tap, usually most homes will have two, one which is located outside your home in the street or garden which is the responsibility of the water authorities and another located as the water service enters your property this can usually be found in the hall, under the kitchen sink or within an outside store.

Make sure you know where these are and ensure these are both operational. If the taps are old and stiff consider getting these replaced, the water authorities will replace any defective stop tap in the street usually free of charge.

6) If you’re going away for a while or on holiday, ensure the thermostat as mentioned above is set and working. It is also sensible to consider asking a friend or relative to check your home regularly whilst your away.If your home is going to be void or empty for a long while, turn the water off. You must however, make sure you drain down all the water and heating services to prevent the risk of water within the pipes freezing, a local plumber can easily do this for you.

7) Fix any leaking taps to ensure they don’t freeze and block your pipes.

8 Opening your loft hatch door occasionally and allow warm air from within the property into the roof.

9) Turn off water supplies to outside taps, drain and insulate the pipes.

 What to do if you suspect your pipes have frozen?

If you have no water and you suspect the problem is a frozen pipe, contact your neighbour first see if they also have no water. If they don’t this is most likely caused by a problem with the mains supply and you will need to contact your water company. If they do, you may have a frozen pipe?

If you have a frozen pipe it is important to try and defrost the blockage as quickly as possible to prevent the frozen water expanding and fracturing the pipe.

These steps will help you locate and defrost a frozen pipe.

1) Identify the blockage

If your pipes are frozen, you’ll need to find out where the blockage is before taking action.

You can do this by, looking for evidence of freezing along the pipes or using your hands to feel the pipe until you reach a section that feels colder than the rest. Try to compare the temperature of the blocked pipe to that of a pipe where you know the water is flowing freely.

2) Protect your possessions

If a pipe appears to be frozen, protect everything around it to avoid any damage if it bursts. Cover and isolate all electrics as necessary, just incase.

3) Turn off the stop tap

Turn off the main stop tap before you start. as previously mentioned these maybe located inside or outside your home.

4)  Run the closest tap

Drain down the water system, this can be done by opening all the taps after turning off the stop tap, which will allow any water within the pipes before and after the blockage to escape.

5) Start defrosting

Using a hairdryer or hot water bottle, carefully thaw the ice in the pipe (starting at the tap end and working backwards towards the cold tank). Try not to heat the water too quickly and never let the water in pipes boil – this will cause steam pressure which could burst the pipe. Take care as the pipe could burst at any time as it starts to thaw. If you are not confident in defrosting the pipe yourself call a local and reputable plumbing contractor to do this for you.

Never use a naked flame or a heat gun to thaw out ice as this could damage your pipes and cause a fire.

6) Check pipe for damage

Once you’ve thawed out your pipes, check them thoroughly for any signs of damage. If the pipes have been damaged, you will need to call out an plumber to fix the problem, before you can consider turning the water back on.

7)  Turn on the taps

Once the blockage has thawed, and your confident the pipes are in good condition turn your stop tap back on and run water until normal flow is restored, you will need to remember to turn off all of your taps first, which you opened when draining down the system.

What if the pipe has burst?

1) Find your mains water stop valve and turn it off.

2) Switch off the central heating and any other water heating installations at the same time, to avoid further damage

3) Open all your taps to drain the system.

4) Protect your belongings and furnishings

5) If water is coming through the ceiling or floors, collect it in buckets. If the ceiling starts to bulge, pierce the plaster to let the water through. Extract as much water as possible with towels and cloths.

6) If your wiring, or any electrical appliances have been affected, do not touch them until they have been checked by a professional electrician. If in doubt, turn off your electricity at the mains.

7) Keep any damaged items.  Do NOT immediately throw away any damaged possessions, as your insurance company may need to take a look at them. Store everything together in a dry place.

8 Encourage drying out any affected rooms by keeping doors and windows open (where possible) and leaving your heating on (again if possible).

9) Contact your Insurers, Landlord or Letting Agent who will arrange for an inspection and any further repairs to deal with the emergency.

If you have suffered from a burst water pipe and water damage, please don’t hesitate to contact us Dryfix Preservation Ltd “Yorkshires Leading Damp and Timber Specialists” and have your property dried quickly and effectively.

Dryfix are a IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification) certified company specialising is flood/water damage and drying of buildings.  Our surveyors carry all the latest diagnosis and inspection equipment including fibre optical cameras, moisture analysis equipment and thermal imaging cameras. We have a wide range of specialist drying equipment installed and monitored by trained and experienced water restoration technicians.

Dryfix Preservation Ltd.

for more information visit our website www.dryfix.net

Russell Rafton

C.S.R.T / I.S.S.E

Dryfix Preservation Surveyor